Anita and Me (film)
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Anita and Me
| image = Anita_and_me_poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Metin Hüseyin
| producer = Paul Raphael
| writer = Meera Syal
| narrator =
| starring = Chandeep Uppal
Kabir Bedi
Anna Brewster
| music = Barry Blue
Lynsey De Paul
| cinematography = Cinders Forshaw
| editing = Annie Kocur
| studio = BBC Films
EM Media
Emmi
Film Council
Portman Film
Starfield Productions
| distributor = Icon Film Distribution (VHS/DVD distribution)
| released = {{Film date|2002|11|22|df=y}}
| runtime = 92 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
Anita and Me is a 2002 British comedy-drama film directed by Metin Hüseyin and starring Chandeep Uppal, Kabir Bedi, and Anna Brewster. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Meera Syal. It was released during a period of popularity for British Asian films, alongside such as East Is East and Bend It Like Beckham.{{cite web| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/10/17/anita_and_me_2002_review.shtml| title=BBC Review| publisher=BBC| access-date=27 October 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100925204219/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/10/17/anita_and_me_2002_review.shtml| archive-date= 25 September 2010 | url-status= live}}{{cite web | url=http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=D5FD9B420eeaf2E8F2nPmTCEE9DF | title=Britfilms entry| publisher=britfilms.com| access-date=27 October 2010}}
Premise
Meena Kumar, a 11-year-old Sikh girl, lives with her family in the predominantly native British, working-class, fictional mining village of Tollington in the Black Country in 1972. Meena meets Anita, an Anglo-British, 14-year-old girl whom Meena comes to idolise. However, Meena finds it harder and harder to fit in as her Indian heritage keeps on resurfacing, and Anita's new boyfriend proves to hold strong racist attitudes toward those he regards as "darkies".
Cast
- Meena Kumar – Chandeep Uppal
- Anita Rutter – Anna Brewster
- Mr Kumar – Sanjeev Bhaskar
- Mrs Kumar – Ayesha Dharker
- Deirdre Rutter – Kathy Burke
- The Yeti – Kabir Bedi
- Uncle Amman – Omid Djalili
- Auntie Shaila – Meera Syal
- Mrs Ormerod – Lynn Redgrave
- Reverend 'Uncle' Alan – Mark Williams
- Sam Lowbridge – Alex Freeborn
- Hairy Neddy – Max Beesley
- Nanima – Zohra Sehgal
- Sandy – Christine Tremarco
- Brenda – Lucy Pargeter
Production
The film is semi-autobiographical, based on Syal's upbringing in Essington, Staffordshire. Despite being set in the West Midlands, sizeable parts of the film were shot in the East Midlands, notably the Derbyshire town of Draycott.{{cite web| title=Anita and Me – Another Nottingham film premiere| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2002/11/anita_and_me_premiere.shtml| publisher=BBC| date=14 November 2002| access-date=7 November 2023}}
Reception
=Box office=
{{Anchor|Box office}}
Anita and Me opened in cinemas on 22 November 2002 and earned £1,753,880 to 226 cinemas in the UK by 29 December. At the end of its opening weekend on 24 November, the film grossed £453,613 and by 29 December, it had grossed a further £42,446.{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303661/business| title=Box office/business for Anita and Me| publisher=IMDb| access-date=27 October 2010}}
=Critical response=
Anita and Me has received mixed reviews. {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|75|6.0|8||access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}{{cite web| url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1164675-anita_and_me | title=Movies/On DVD/Anita & Me| publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | access-date=27 October 2020 }}
Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian commented that "There are zany vignettes and comedy Indian relations galore, but the whole thing is very cardboard and stereotypical."{{cite web| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/93353/anita.and.me| title=Anita and Me Overview| date=21 July 2008| publisher=27 October 2010}} Louise Keller from Urban CineFile Australia describes the film as "a sweet chapter in the life of a young girl battling to identify with her roots and environment". David Edwards calls Anita and Me "a well-meaning but uneven film".{{cite web| url= http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=7339&s=Reviews| title=Urban Cine file review| publisher=urbancinefile.com.au| access-date=27 October 2010}} Vince Leo from Quipster has described the film as "a perfect example of a coming-of-age film".{{cite web| url=http://quipster.net/anitaandme.net| title=Vince Leo review| publisher=quipster.net| access-date=27 October 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825113847/http://quipster.net/anitaandme.net| archive-date=25 August 2011| url-status=dead}} Rich Cline of Shadow on the Wall describes the film as being "enjoyable and funny, but there's not that much to it".{{cite web|url=http://www.shadowonthewall.co.uk/swanitme.htm |title=Anita and Me review by Rich Cline |publisher=shadowonthewall.co.uk |access-date=27 October 2010 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Home video
The film has been released in VHS and DVD format. The DVD was released in the UK on 26 May 2003 by Icon Home Entertainment.{{cite web| url=http://www.movie-gazette.com/228/anita-and-me| title=UK DVD review| publisher=movie-gazette.com| access-date=27 October 2010}} It was also released on DVD on 8 August 2006 by Image Entertainment.{{cite web|url=http://ruxandraghitescusblog.rangdebasanti.com/2010/01/20/anita-me-review |title=Ruxandra Ghitescu's blog, Anita & Me Review |publisher=ruxandraghitescusblog.rangdebasanti.com |access-date=27 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210729/http://ruxandraghitescusblog.rangdebasanti.com/2010/01/20/anita-me-review |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0303661|title=Anita and Me}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100509055300/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808750353/info Anita and Me] at Yahoo Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anita and Me (film)}}
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:2000s Hindi-language films
Category:2000s female buddy films
Category:2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films
Category:British female buddy films
Category:British coming-of-age comedy-drama films
Category:Films about immigration
Category:Films about women in the Indian diaspora
Category:Films based on British novels